First Day – #FirstDay

Today sees Syd and I head off for his first day at pre-school. It is just an induction, and today I stay with him, on Friday he will go it alone. *cries a bit*

He is a lovely sociable little chap, and I think he will enjoy it, but for me his first day marks the end of the baby years, and the beginning of a new phase where I have to hand over a little of his joy to someone else, only for a few hours a week, but still.

Having said that, today also sees the launch of the #FirstDay campaign by Save The Children, and this makes me stop moping and be so very grateful that we have reached this day, when so many children don’t.

Every year 2.9 million babies die in their first month. Newborn deaths now account for nearly half of all under-five death. What an utter tragedy, even more so as many of these deaths are preventable with the help of a trained and equipped midwife along with basic medicines such as antiseptics and antibiotics, vital equipment and a clean environment to work in.

You can read the full Save The Children report on ending newborn death here. Save The Children trains midwives in some of the worlds poorest countries, as well as providing them with the tools and medication they need to save babies lives.

This year, for the first time, countries around the world will sit down to agree a global action plan to save newborn lives. Save The Children are working hard to ensure it is as ambitious as possible. And while getting governments to agree a plan on paper is a step in the right direction, we also need to see progress in training and equipping midwives.

You can read more on the Save The Children campaign on their campaign page here.

You can sign their petition urging David Cameron to sign up to their newborn promise. More information on that promise and how to sign can be found here.

You can donate to Save The Children here. Just £5 could buy life-saving antibiotics such as Amoxicillin to save a child from diseases such as sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis. And £50 can pay to train a community health worker to give life-saving medicine and care to newborn babies and mothers.

And today (25th February) you can join in a special twitter chat with @savechildrenuk and @thinlyspread to help launch the campaign and spread the #FirstDay word. Join them to talk about some of your best #firstday ‘s, maybe at school, or the birth of your children. It takes place between 1-2 (UK time) and please use the #FirstDay hashtag.

Right, am off to prepare my little man for his first day, wish us both luck, and pass me the tissues,

30 Comments

Aww hugs, good luck with Syd and his first day. Its an end of a lovely stage, but all the news he will have will start of that lovely next stage. I hope this global action plan really gets underway now, its been far too long coming.Jo Bryan recently posted…Devil’s Food Chocolate Cupcakes (Cupcakes and Cocktails)

I was listening to all of these statistics on the news this morning and was really quite shocked. It is great that awareness is being raised in such a big way.Mummy of Two recently posted…Bugaboo High Performance Footmuff Review

I feel your pain about handing your “baby” over to others, even for a while, each little step like that is hard. And thanks for sharing the Save the Children information, I’ve signed the petition and have even managed to catch the end of the Twitter chat.Franglaise Mummy recently posted…Top hat, moustache, onesie, wind, rain and a birthday

I do hope first day at pre-school went off well. I am all in support of the cause of neonates all over the world. No baby deserves to die, neonates are particularly vulnerable. Simple solutions like basic hygiene might give a lot of them a chance of survival.

Sometimes it is so difficult to see them growing up. I hope the settling in went well and that Syd thrives with all the new and exciting experiences. I love lunchtimes now when I and my little one have the chance to sit together, just the two of us, and chat about what we have both done this morning.Kirsty recently posted…#FirstDay – Help End Newborn Deaths

Good luck with preschool. I know exactly how you feel about the first day and the end of baby years… It was part of why first days were only done with daddy. That way I could cry and not be alone 🙂
It is a very important cause, and great of you to highlight it!Orli D recently posted…DLA – filling the disability forms

This is such a great campaign… Every Christmas I encourage people to donate for these kinds of things – this year we paid for training for midwives in Africa which was awesome. You can also pay for things like equipment, transport to reach women in remote areas etc. I was meant to be going to Tanzania this summer for a work placement but some of the horror stories of other midwives have put me off going 🙁 Maybe one day when I’m not such a wuss as it’s something I would love to do to be able to pass on our skills to those that don’t have the opportunity to train like we do here in the UKCharlotte recently posted…Bookham Commons, Surrey {Let’s have an adventure}

What a beautiful post. So poignant that a special milestone in Syd’s life happens on the same day as the campaign is launched. It is devastating that so many precious newborn lives are lost every year. I really hope the Save the Children campaign raises awareness and makes a difference to babies born in the future and their mothers.Sarah MumofThree World recently posted…The Gallery: Guilty pleasures

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